Politics|Florida, Georgia, California: Races That Are Still Too Close to Call

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Florida, Georgia, California: Races That Are Still Too Close to Call

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Supporters of Stacey Abrams, the Democratic candidate for governor of Georgia, at her election night party in Atlanta on Tuesday. The race was still too close to call Friday.CreditCreditRuth Fremson/The New York Times

Election Day is over, but as the week drew to a close there were still races whose outcomes were too close to call. That included Senate contests in Florida and Arizona, the closely watched governor’s race in Georgia, and House races in California, New York, Utah and elsewhere.

As election workers count provisional and absentee ballots, and in some cases prepare for recounts, it could be weeks before some results are known. Here is a look at the state of play in some of the races that have yet to be decided.

Florida

State law requires a recount when two candidates are separated by half a percentage point or less, and on Saturday, three of the state’s races — agriculture secretary, the governorship and a U.S. Senate seat — were within that margin.

Georgia

Two races have yet to be called in Georgia: the governor’s race between the Democrat Stacey Abrams and the Republican Brian Kemp and the House race in the Seventh District, between the Democrat, Carolyn Bourdeaux, and the Republican incumbent, Rob Woodall.

In the governor’s race, Mr. Kemp leads Ms. Abrams, but she believes enough votes remain outstanding to put a runoff or recount within reach. “We will continue to advocate for every ballot to be counted and take the appropriate legal measures to ensure the legitimacy of this election,” said Lauren Groh-Wargo, her campaign manager.

The Abrams campaign said there are a few types of votes yet to be counted: provisional ballots, which are filled out if there are questions about identification or a person’s registration, and ballots from military servicemembers and Americans living overseas that were not due until Friday. A federal judge ruled Friday that regular absentee ballots in one southwest Georgia county, delayed because of Hurricane Michael and other circumstances, could be counted if they arrived by Friday.

Results aren’t expected in the Seventh District, which covers part of Atlanta’s northern suburbs, until early next week. Election officials are counting provisional ballots from Forsyth and Gwinnett counties and will announce their findings either Monday or Tuesday. The campaigns can request a recount if the race is decided by less than one percent, and on Friday the two candidates were 0.32 percent apart. “This race is as close as it’s ever been,” said Jake Best, Ms. Bourdeaux’s spokesman.

An election night party for Ms. Abrams. Local officials raced to count absentee ballots in the Georgia election.CreditRuth Fremson/The New York Times

New York

There are two House races in upstate New York that have yet to be called. Election officials said the final results may not be available until Dec. 3.

The race between Anthony Brindisi, a Democrat, and the Republican incumbent Claudia Tenney, in the 22nd District, which covers much of central New York, could be determined by several thousand absentee and provisional ballots that remain to be counted. Mr. Brindisi declared his campaign to be on a “winning path,” but Ms. Tenney said the race was too close to call.

“This race will be decided when all the votes have been counted,” Ms. Tenney said in a statement. “We will continue to work with our legal team and the electoral boards in each county to ensure the votes are counted accurately and fairly.”

Vote counting also continued in the 27th District, where the Republican incumbent Chris Collins, who was charged with insider trading in August, appeared to hold a lead over his Democratic challenger, Nate McMurray. But thousands of votes remained to be tallied on Friday.

“If we lose, we will lose graciously and get ready for the next fight,” Mr. McMurray said in a statement. “But it’s our duty to make sure that we count every vote because, in our democracy, every vote counts.”

He also asked his supporters for donations.

“We need lawyers,” he said in an online video. “And lawyers are expensive.”

California

There were several House races in California whose results were too close to call on Friday, all of them for longtime Republican seats.

In the 10th District, which covers part of the state’s Central Valley, the Republican incumbent Jeff Denham had a slim lead on Friday over the Democratic challenger Josh Harder, a venture capitalist, according to data fromcounty election offices.

In the 39th District, which includes parts of Los Angeles, Orange and San Bernardino Counties, the Republican Young Kim was leading the Democrat Gil Cisneros.

In the 45th District, in once conservative Orange County, the Republican incumbent Mimi Walters held a slim lead over her Democratic challenger, Katie Porter, a college professor and liberal protégée of Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.

Texas

The race is far from over in the 23rd Congressional District, which covers most of the state’s border with Mexico. Republican incumbent Will Hurd has declared himself the winner (he had a 1,150 vote lead over his Democratic challenger, Gina Ortiz Jones) but Sam Taylor, a spokesman for the Texas secretary of state, said “there’s really no way to know at this point.”

Not only are there votes that have not been counted, including provisional and mail-in ballots, but there are also votes that haven’t even arrived yet. In Texas, ballots from voters living overseas can arrive up to five days after an election, Nov. 11, and those from military servicemembers can arrive up to six days after, or Nov. 12. Local authorities don’t have to submit the results to the secretary of state until Nov. 20.

“Every journalist in the state has asked me who it looks like the winner will be,” Mr. Taylor said. “But there’s no way to predict that.”

Utah

The House race in Utah’s Fourth District remained close on Friday. The Salt Lake County mayor Ben McAdams, a Democrat, was leading the incumbent, Mia Love, the only black Republican woman in the House, who spent much of the campaign battling accusations of campaign finance malfeasance.

Unofficial results published online by the secretary of state on Friday showed Mr. McAdams ahead by almost 6,000 votes, but many votes remain uncounted. In Salt Lake County, the largest of four counties partially covered by the district, over 116,000 provisional and mail-in ballots had yet to be tallied on Friday morning, according to election officials. In the second largest county, Utah County, the number was over 88,000.

New Jersey

It remains unclear who won the House race in New Jersey’s Third District. Andy Kim, a Democrat, declared victory on Wednesday, although unofficial results posted online that day by New Jersey election authorities showed his opponent, the Republican incumbent Tom MacArthur, with a lead of more than 2,300 votes. The Associated Press has not called the race.

“This has been a hard-fought campaign and like Andy Kim, I’m ready to see it come to an end,” Mr. MacArthur said on Facebook on Wednesday. “I have always said that I will be guided by the voters of the district, and there are nearly 7,000 more of them who haven’t been heard from yet.”

Maine

Bruce Poliquin, the Republican incumbent, led his opponent, the Democrat Jared Golden, in the Second District, but the race remained too close to call. The district, which covers the sparsely populated and heavily forested majority of Maine’s landmass, was a target for Democrats.